Winter blur, part 2

More choice moments frozen in time, a midst a busy time.

Mental health hour at Starr Pass. Just about every other hour was on the computer the weekend of Iditarod and the San Felipe 250. Endurance programming, complete with sleep deprivation. Running events is, in many ways, more exhausting than participating in them!

I went for a run on a whim, for this day’s half hour of mental health.

I had a feeling the sky painters were scheming, and I took the camera, just for kicks.

Running up the hill to the trails I knew it was going to be good. Never had such a good reason to run fast — get up high where I can see it all!

Just ridiculous. Best run ever. Laughing and spinning around, spattered by rain, tripping over rocks, what a world we live in.

Periods of busy are OK as long as you course correct the other direction. Straighten out the boat, get your bearings.

Straighten it out by finding ways to un-straighten your bike, relative to the earth.

“Dunk, dunk, dunk, through the chunk!” says Chad.

That ‘up’ is right at the limit of what we can do, esp. with the steep and limited run in.

Don’t look off the edge.

Minor grimace.

One of the coolest rock formations I’ve seen at the 50. A giant plate that somehow elevated and cracked.

The sun signals it’s time to head back east, past the lunch rock and on out.

Oh, yes. Course corrected.

Even better for course correction – a night out on the bikes. Picketpost AZT!

Flowers can be found!

Springtime is *the* time on the AZT.

It was the first bikepack for Alexis. Always cool to see more people getting into it.

So why not take her on Orphan Boy! Actually going down it’s a piece of cake.

Golden light.

That still remains just above the Box.

We ate Chipotle burritos as the sun set, in a saddle between Martinez and Box Canyons. One of the best places to wake up in, period.

Solid rock roads for breakfast.

Gila Canyons for lunch.

Greens for salad.

I thought this guy was dead, he was so brown and frail looking. He was perfectly still while I took this macro shot, camera ~2cm from him. Then I brushed him with a stick and he moved!

Alexis wins for team photo points in her matching red kit. We win for getting to ride the inner canyon on a perfect day.

The girls made fun of me for running down the trail to snap photos in the best flower spot we saw, overlooking Picketpost. I’m OK with that.

The greek food in Florence is top notch. Overshadowed only by the riding, weather and trip at large. More please!